The present invention relates to an aqueous-alcoholic composition for fixing hair with a content of neutralizable shellac in combination with at least one additional film-forming hair fixing polymer.
Conventional compositions for fixing hair, especially hair sprays, employ lower alcohols, such as ethanol or isopropanol as solvents for the film-forming, hair fixing ingredients. These lower alcohols are volatile organic compounds (VOC), which have been mentioned as contributors to air pollution. Thus because of environmental considerations, it is desirable to try to find hair fixing compositions which have reduced amounts of volatile organic solvents. This can occur by replacing all or part of the lower alcohols with water. Aqueous alcohol-free hair sprays are, of course, known, but they have disadvantageous properties during use, especially in regard to the required lengthy drying time.
Compositions for fixing hair, in which a part of the lower alcohol is replaced by water, are similarly known. This type of aqueous-alcoholic system has the disadvantage that it is difficult to spray, since alcohol/water mixtures with an alcohol content of between 30 and 60 percent have a viscosity maximum. This viscosity maximum occurs in an even greater extent in the presence of conventional hair-fixing polymers